Railway rail and rail joint



March 17, 1931. s, HcMsON RAILWAY RAIL AND RAIL JDINT Filed April 9, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Am G :n

j (ye/77% Patented Mar. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES SAMUEL GARNER THOMSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILWAY RAIL AND RAIL JOINT Application filed April 9, 1930. Serial No. 442,948.

This invention relates to a'modification of the upper section of a railway rail, in order bearing and fit of the splice'ba-r against the rail, and to provide a bearing that affords the required amount of yielding flexibility against the pull of the bolts. I also wish to provide an upper splice bar bearing with an enlarged area for resisting wear and for use with electrically insulated rail-joints.

The manufacture of a safe rail for railway service continues to be one of the great prob lems before our American railroads today; and it is known somewhat generally that rail failures in service are attributed in part to a shattered zone of metal in the head of the rail just over its juncture with the rail web. It is thought that this condition is due, outside of the fact that it is hard to roll and work the metal thoroughly at this point, to the cooling of the rail in manufacture. In this process, the surface cooling causes internal strains of compression, which, in turn, must be balanced when the rail is cold by an excessive state of tension at the interior of the head where this shattered zone appears.

My invention thickens the rail web in its upper section and diminishes the head gradually in its juncture with the web, so that the change of section at this point is less abrupt than in rail sectionsheretofore used.

This abrupt change of section, which is eliminated by my improvement, has been characterist-ic of the T-rail since its first development from the old pear-shaped rail. In order to ease or decrease the abruptness of the sharply oil'set section as now used, I introduce this expanded or swollen portion into the rail section, which obviously has a number of advantages over the present art;

I which advantages may be stated as follows:

The heat during manufacture will be held more uniformly in the upper section of the rail. and my improvement will permit better rolling of the metal in the rail head. On account of the sharp offset in the section of the rail being eliminated, my invention will diminish the liability of cold-rolling the metal in the web to the point of injury, while atscription to follow.

tempting to obtain a proper working and rolling of the heavy bulk of metal in the head immediately adjoining, The-thickened zone will be effective in scattering more uniformly thruout the entire upper half of the rail'the strains set up by cooling. It will afford a rail that will cool straighter, and thus diminish much of the necessity for gagging at the mills; and it will provide generally, a better finished product.

This improvement in rail design and in the bearing of the splice bars on the rail is, in part, an advanced development and improvement of some of the principles of my former Patent No. 1,005,588, dated October 10, 1911. The main characteristic of the aforesaid patent in which the bar has a posi tive fulcrum bearing against the rail, a feature now in very general use, can be applied to my improved rail; altho the action of the bars against the rail as outlined in my former patent is basically difierent from the action of the bars as herein described. An advanced development over Patent No. 1,005,583 and the former art is now presented for the first time in various forms of bearing for the bar against the rail. These bearings greatly reduce the width of the present flat fishing-angles under the rail head, and provide better for the variations in size and for the usual tolerances allowed in rolling. The enlarged slanting faces of these various hearings offer less rigidity to the pull of the bolts than do the bars of my former patent, and they also afford increased area to resist wear. This increased area is specially desirable for electrically insulated rail-joints. The bearing of the head of the bar may be carried down around the enlarged slanting face to a substantially vertical face of the rail web, if it is desired to approach the high rigidity against the pull of the bolts characteristic of Patent No. 1,005,583. Other more yielding and elastic forms will be comprehended from the illustrations and de- In my former patent, the head of the bar was moved inwardly from the position found in the former art, and

and

. fillet to meet the original position of the bar,

instead of pushing the head of the bar inwardly to meet the rail web, as stated above.

After many years of experience in observing wear and tests with these various types of bars and with the different action of their bearings with respect to the rail, this enlarged slanting bearing of the bar against the rail has been developed, which, it is thought will prove to be as marked an advance over the conception of my former patent, as that patent has. proved to be over the former art. In addition to the several advantages that this enlarged slanting bearing has in controlling the action of the bar against the rail and in increasing its bearing area, this improvement, likewise, permits of very vital betterment in rail manufacture.

It is well known that, in the early development of the T-rail, the old pear-shaped rail had steep sloping sides, an advantageous shape to manufacture; but these sides were not used as bearings for splice bars. l Vhen the idea first was conceived of carrying the rail load thru the joint by means of the bolted side plates which, up to that time, had been used only to hold the rail-ends together, the

' plates then were made heavier and were adapted to fit tightly under the head and on top of the foot of the rail. and from the very beginning, very sharp angles were used for these bearing faces,about 13 degrees with the horizontal." The surface under the rail head being limited, it always has been the practice to carry this upper fishingangle in toward the rail web as far as pos sible, in order to obtain the widest bearing surface available, and at the same time to allow additional space as a clearance for taking up wear. This has required the use of a small-radius fillet located as far in under the rail head as a minimum thickness for the rail web would permit, and this practice is followed today with the modern heavy T- rails weighing up to 150 pounds per yard. Even since the general use of the improvement of Patent No. 1,005,583, the head of the bar has maintained its position set into a small fillet against the web of the rail,- in contrast with the swelling out of the fillet and the enlarging of the upper portion of the rail web as embodied in this invention. It is obvious, therefore, that my improvement involves the abandonment of a principle and a practice that has maintained its hold on progressive development since the T-rail was first used.

In this development, the shape, location and extent of the bearing of the bar on the rail foot is of equally vital importance to its bearing under the head. In my former patent, the movement of the bar in tightening and in taking up wear, was entirely a swinging motion,-inwardly at the base around the positive fulcrum of the head of the bar against the rail web; whereas, in this invention, the enlarged top bearing of the bar together with the nature and location of its bearing on the rail foot, maintains the bar in approximately its original upright operating position as it is drawn inwardly with an upward thrust under the rail head.

lVith reference again to the bearing of the bar 011 the foot of the rail, I would call attention to Fig. 17 of my former Patent No. 1,005,583. A form is shown which is similar in its upper section to certain forms of this invention, in that it has a narrow flat face acting as a fishing angle at the outer under corner of the rail head, this flat face being joined to an enlarged curved face extending to the vertical side of the rail web; but in all other respects, the action of the bar and the design as shown in this Fig. 17 of my former patent differs widely from the action of the bars and the designs of this invention. This difference is due to the fact that the bar as shown in aforesaid Fig. 17 has a wide sweeping curved bearing on the rail foot. This curved hearing, when used with the usual variations'in size and the tolerances allowed in the rolling of rails and bars, has proved it to be a very difficult form with which to obtain a proper fit of the bars to the rail, and to maintain the bar in service in its upright operating position. Under the vibration of the track and after wear takes place, the tendency of the bar is to slide inward in this widely curved base bearing on the foot of the rail, thus giving a rotating action to the bar and causing it to creep out at the top; instead of the inward and upward thrust obtained in this invention by the comparatively narrow fiat bearing which my improved design provides for the bar on top of the rail foot.

The precise nature of my invention will best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated a number of forms. It is presumed, however, that the invention is susceptible of various other modifications without departing from its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims.

Figures 1 to 4 inclusive are sectional elevations of a rail and a splice bar illustrating some of the forms which my invention may take, while Figures 5 to 7 inclusive are enlarged sectional views illustrating typical cases of the bearing of a splice bar under the rail head. Fig. 5 represents the practice which has prevailed since the T-rail with a fishing-angle was first developed, a clearance being provided between the head of the bar and to the extent that the flat fishing-angletion 2. The reaction to the of the drawings 2-- The letter H, wherever seen, designates the rail head; W, the rail web; F, the rail foot;

B, the splice bar; T, the flat bearing face for.

the bar at the outer under corner of the rail head; D, the lower bearing of the splice bar on the rail; line f--f, the centre line of the clamping bolts; line 'v--'v designates a vertical plane thru the juncture or point of tangency of flat bearing face T with an inwardly inclined curved face; 0:, the distance of plane o-o from a vertical plane at the outermost portion of the rail head; 12 the distance of plane 'v'v from a vertical plane at the innermost face of the rail web.

Figure 1 shows a rail head H having a. wide uniformly curved under face 1, slanting downwardly and inwardly to the rail web from the narrow flat face T. It .will be noted in this figure, as well as in all of the figures followin except Figs. 5 and 6, that the swollen or enlarged zone of metal immediately under the rail head at its juncture with the rail web is obtained in several ways :by a widely curved under face of the rail head joined to a thin upright web; by a gradually tapering and thickened upper web having its outer face joined to a narrow curved under face or directly to the flat face T; and by a combination of both of these methods. In this Fig. 1, the bar B also has a wide flat bearing D on the rail foot, which wide flat bearing is necessary in order to direct or transmit the pull of the bolts into an inward and upward thrust of the bar under the rail head.

It is one of the novel and basic principles of my invention, that the idth and the position of the flat fishin -angle bearing of the bar on the rail foot ecomes of proportionally increasing importance in stabilizing the position of the bar against the rail, as,

hearing of the bar under the rail head is diminished in width. In this Fig. 1, the very narrow fiat fishing-angle T at the top of the bar makes it vital to have the wide fiat face I) at the bottom, particularl its outer pororce exerted'at 2 the pull of the bolts along the plane f-f tends to thrust or press the head of the bar inwardly and upwardly under the rail head. It is obvious that, if the bar B had a bearing 8 of very limited width, and a clearance between it and the top of the rail as indicated by dotted line 3-4, the bottom of the bar then would be pulled in by the bolts along the fishing-angle in the first application of the bar to the rail, until the clearance was taken up or the bar drawn tightly home against the rail fillet at 5. In this drawingup movement, there would be little or no resistance at the top of the bar to its tendency to slide around the curve outwardly and away from the under corner'of the rail head, thus effecting a rotation of the entire bar around its centre. This clearly indicates, therefore, the effectiveness of and the necessity for a flat bearing of considerable width on top of the outer portion of the rail foot, as at 2 of this Fig. 1, in connection with the narrow flat face T and the enlarged slanting concave bearing 1 at the top.

My invention, therefore, may be stated as embodying an adjusted and properly located flat bearing for the bar on the rail foot in combination with an upper widely slanting and flexibly adjustable bearing against an enlarged or thickened portion of the rail web and head. These two features in combination make it possible to eliminate the greater portion'of the width of the flat fishing-angle under the rail head as now used, thus affording a better form for rolling and working the metal in theupper rail-section, which in turn, is effective in the manufacture of a better and a safer rail.

Figure 2 shows a rail having its head joined to its web by a flat slanting face 8. The bottom of the bar B has a contact D with the outer portion of the rail foot F.

It will be noted in this Fig. 2, as well as in Figs. 1, 3, and 7 that the line U--U, representing a vertical plane at the inner edge or point of tangency of the fiat under face T, is very much closer to a vertical plane at the outermost portion of the rail head than it is to a vertical plane at the innermost face of the rail web; in other words: the distance x is much less than the distance y.

Figure 3 shows a rail vwith'the enlarged portion under its head similar to that in Fig. 2, except'that the enlargement is formed by a uniform curve 9 having a large radius carrying the thickened upper web down to the centre-line of the bolts f-7. The bar has a narrow fishing-angle bearing T under the rail head, and a slightly curved bearing against the web and head, this hearing lying at a steep angle with the horizontal. The bar has a bearing D, about midway of the top of the rail foot, and also has a member 10, extending under the rail base. This member 10, acts as an additional factor in stabilizing the movement of the head of the bar against the rail. i

In Figure 4, a fiat under face T of greater width than heretofore shown in the drawings, is joined to a curved face 11 of small radius, and this curved face in turn, to a flat sharply inclined face 12 of the side of the rail web.

This carries the enlarged zone of the rail down to line ff, as in Fig. 3. The inward extent of the flat face T in this Figure 4,

indicatcs about the limit in the maximum width of this face that can be used to good advantage in this invention, and it will be noted, that this width carries the plane -vv atthe point of tangency of face T inwardly almost to a point midway between the vertical planes at the outermost point of the rail head and at the innermost face of the rail web. The distance a: therefore, is almost as great as the distance 1 Bar B has a lower hearing I) on the rail foot.

Figures 5 and 6 are enlarged sectional views of the region adjacent to the under side of the rail head, and they illustrate the former art with the fishing angles comprising wide fiat surfaces T, T. Fig. 5 shows a clearance 13 to allow for the taking-up of wear, while in Fig. 6. this space is included in the head area of the bar as in my former patent. In both of these figures, it is noted that the distance av is much greater than the distance 3 which is just the reverse of that shown in a similar sectional view, Fig. 7, illustrating a form of this invention. Fig. 6 shows the distance a; to be only about one and one-half times the distance but the prevailing and even the exceptional practice to-day does not reveal these distances to be so nearly equal, present-day designs being represented more nearly by Fig. 5, where m is two or three times 3 In Fig. 7, illustrating a form of this invention, it is noted that y is about three times In the preferred forms of my invention, the head of the bar contacts under the rail head around the greater portion of an enlarged concave bearing face comprising various forms of curved surfaces and part or all of the width of the comparatively narrow flat under face of the rail head. lVhen the radius of the uppermost tip of the bar at the under corner of the rail head is considerably enlarged, then the bar may stand free from the outermost portion of this narrow flat under face, but a tight fitting contact is always maintained with the remaining greater portion of the width of this flat under face, and in many designs with its entire width.

It will be noted from Fig. 7, that the hearing of the head of the bar against the rail may extend only part ofthe 'ay down around the enlarged inner concave under surface of the rail head, instead of being carried down hard against the upright part of the curve as shown at 7 in Fig. 1. This affords a desirable amount of flexibility to the fit of the head of the bar as it is pulled up by the bolts, which is one of the important advantages of my invention.

In the design of bars according to present practice and as illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawings, even with the widest flat fishingangle bearing that can be obtained for the bar within the limited space under the rail head, instability is the result, the flat bearing under the head of the rail not being sufficient to hold the bar in its normal upright position. This fiat bearing of the bar under the rail head, such as is now in general use and as illustrated in Fig. 5, lies at such a sharp angle with the horizontal-about 13 degrees-and is so near in line with the pull of the bolts, that the bar, under the vibration and wear of track service, soon takes up the clearance between its head and the rail Web, and assumes an inclined position with its head against the rail web and with badly fitting hearing contacts with the head and foot of the rail. The design of my former patent, No, 1,005,583 illustrated by Fig. 6, solved this kicking-in tendency by eliminating the clearance and by placing the original position of the head of the bar solidly against the rail web, in order to provide a positive fulcrum for the bar to swing around as it is drawn up by the bolts. This resulted in a very rigid construction and Solid action under the rail head. In my new invention. however, I provide various forms which afford more yielding bearings having :mple flexibility in their adjustment to the rail and in their resistance to the pull of the bolts. This invention, therefore, occupies an intermediate position with respect to the fit of the head of the bar against the rail; that is: intermediatebetween the instability of the former art illustrated by Fig. 5 with its cl arance and wide flat fishing angles, and the rigidity of my former patent illustrated by Fig. 6 with the bars set solidly against the upright face of the rail web.

From the foregoing description, it is thought that the construction, the functioning and the various details of my invention will be understood without further elaboration. It comprises a number of novel features which differ greatly in principle and in details from the former art, and it embodies thoroughly practical construction which should prove to )6 of great value to the railroads. The most important advantages attained, are: A new shape of the upper rail-section such as will facilitate the manufacture of a better and a safer rail; a bar having an adaptable and a well anchored head bearing against the rail, and at the same time, a hearing which affords the required amount of yielding flexibility against the pull of the bolts; and a head-bearing for the bar under the rail head which affords a larger area than heretofore provided, and which is a great advantage for resisting wear and for use with electrically insulated rail-joints.

I claim:

1. In a rail-joint, a rail having a flat face extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer under corner of its head to its juncture with a curved or irregular face joinmg said flat face to the rail web, said juncture lying nearer to a vertical plane at the outermost portion of the rail head than it does to a vertical plane at the innermost face of the rail web, and a splice bar contacting with a portion of said flat face and having a bearing 5 on the top of the rail foot, said bearing being flat for the greater-part of its width.

2. In a rail-joint, a rail having a flat face extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer under corner of its head to join a wider curved or irregular face joining said flat face to the rail web, and a splice bar contactin g with a portion of said fiat face and having a bearing on the top of the rail foot, said bearing being flat for the greater part of its width.

3. In a rail-joint, a rail having a flat face extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer under corner of its head to its iuncture with a curved or irregular face joining said flat face to the rail web, said juncture lying nearer to a vertical plane at the outermost portion of the rail head than it does to a vertical plane at the innermost face of the rail web, and a splice bar contacting with said flat face and standing free from said vertical plane at the innermost face of the rail web.

4. In a rail-joint, a rail having a fiat face extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer under corner of its head to its iuncture with a curved or irregular face joining said flat face to the rail web, said iuncture lying nearer to a vertical plane at the outermost portion of the rail head than it does to a vertical plane at the innermost face of the rail web, and a splice bar contacting with said fiat face and standing free from said vertical plane at the innermost face of the 40 rail web. the splice bar also having a bearing on top of the rail foot, said bearing being flat for the greater portion of its width.

5. In a rail-joint, a rail having a flat face extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer under corner, of its head to join a wider curved or irregular face ioining said flat face to the rail web. and a splice bar contacting with a portion of said flat face and standing free from a vertical plane at the innermost face of the rail web.

6. In a rail-joint, a rail having a flat face extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer under corner of its head to join a wider curved or irregular face joining said fiat face to the rail web, and a splice bar contacting with said fiat face and standing free from a vertical plane at the innermost face of the rail web, the splice bar also having a bearing on top of the rail foot, said bearing being flat for a greater portion of its width.

In testimony whereof, I have signed at Flushing, in the city of New York and the State of New York, this 7th day of April, 1930.

SAMUEL GARVER THOMSON. 

